Your keto diet may spell trouble with the breathalyzer

On behalf of Jeannean Fenske of Travis Noble, P.C. on Friday, August 23, 2019.

Taking care of your body is important. Maintaining the proper diet and exercise regime can help you feel physically and mentally fit.

The keto diet is popular for several reasons. Do you know what this diet does to your body and how it may affect you on the road? The keto diet may trip you up during a traffic stop. If an officer believes you are under the influence and asks you to take a breathalyzer, the keto diet may wind up landing you in jail.

Keto diet basics

People who abide by a keto lifestyle eliminate almost all carbohydrates from their diet. It encourages people to eat a higher amount of fat in place of carbs. In many ways, it is like other diets that abide by the belief that more fat, not less, makes the body more efficient. Doing this regularly puts the body in ketosis, forcing the liver to transform the fat into energy. It aids in weight loss and controls conditions like diabetes, as keto forces insulin and blood sugar to drop.

Effect on a breathalyzer

How can a diet designed to help the body hurts breathalyzer results? When the liver breaks down fat into ketones, it creates and expels acetone. One of the ways the body sheds the acetone is through the breath. When it comes out this way, it is very similar to ethanol alcohol. Standard breathalyzers may detect this isopropyl alcohol byproduct and believe it detects an alcoholic beverage, resulting in a false BAC reading.

Disproving the positive

Arguing with breathalyzer results on the scene may prove difficult. Because keto is a popular diet, law enforcement agencies throughout Missouri are familiar with a possible false positive. If you do not have any other signs of impairment, such as slurred speech, eye nystagmus or difficulty walking, you have a better case.

Maintaining a healthy diet should not mean you run the risk of a DWI charge. Speaking to an attorney with experience in this type of defense work may help get your faulty breathalyzer results thrown out.

Travis Noble is a graduate of the National College for DUI Defense at Harvard University, and he lectures at seminars nationwide on DWI/DUI topics. He is the lawyer whom other lawyers consult to defend their DWI clients. Most importantly, he has a track record of successfully defending some of the toughest DWI cases in Missouri and beyond.

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